Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Sells 3,611 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.3%, ending the most recent quarter with 155,085 shares worth approximately $9.57 million.
• Cisco's CFO and EVP both sold significant portions of their shares, with the CFO selling over 15,000 shares worth over $1 million, indicating insider activity amidst stock fluctuations.
• Cisco Systems announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 2.4%, with the next payout scheduled for October 22nd.

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 155,085 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 3,611 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $9,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 224.7% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO traded down $3.10 on Friday, hitting $66.20. 40,854,477 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,656,640. The firm has a market cap of $262.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.91. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.85 and a twelve month high of $72.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 27.02%. The firm had revenue of $14.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Cisco Systems's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is 62.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,407 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $154,072.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,331,498.27. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,726 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total transaction of $571,902.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 174,669 shares in the company, valued at $11,447,806.26. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,731 shares of company stock worth $5,021,519 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.53.

Cisco Systems Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.